Will a well-placed 500 fps .177 pellet........

Donny Fenn1 said:
shoot it in the ear or eye and you're good, you may get a Michael Jackson impression but dead is dead
I killed hundreds of gophers (among other pests) with a Slavia 177 when I was a kid, i don't even think that it broke 400fps
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And every fish you've ever caught was huge...LOL
 
I know a fellow who lived in a town here, and he reduced the black squirrel population using an air rifle out the back patio doors. Head shots only. I do not recall if it was over or under 500fps though.

Btw, the grey are bigger and tougher, but not sure about skull structure though.

They are all tasty if hindquarters are fried in butter like my paternal granny used to do a long time ago.
 
trevj said:
I know one pest control guy that exclusively used sub-500 fps pellet guns for pigeons. His choice was a Gamo unit with a tube magazine above the main body, that he could simply crank the barrel over and close it again, and shoot again repeatedly.

A fella could do a lot worse than to look at some of the Brit Rat Shooting videos, at least for the shot placement aspect. If you expect to kill it with a center of mass shot, you probably will, but you will probably never find the body. On the other side, a well placed pellet into the side of the head is like to drop him like Thor's Hammer, even out of a lower powered gun.

More power is better if you can get it, but accuracy counts a lot more than power if you want a clean kill.

If you just want it dead, live traps work 24-7, and you can drown it in a bucket, or take it off to some other folks area to be dumped off.
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Ah yes I should've specified "any mammal." I've witnessed dozens of pigeons expire quickly from well placed, low velocity pellets.
 
Get more Power /

You do know that the Classic can be "Over-pumped" to 15-20 pumps? I do that with my .22 Classic. That 'might' get you close to 500. BlastedSaber also has a point, re 'humane'. I think you should look at Cdn airgunforum .ca for "hunting" info. Best bet is get a PAL airgun to do the job right, instead of 'experiments'.
 
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I typically use one of my PCP rifles in .22 or .25 and they drop like a ton of bricks from about 55-60 feet away. It's always a head shot preferably from the side centered between the ear and the eye. They may flop a bit, but it's just a reaction of the brain no longer in control. That said, I've managed 40 foot shots from a Diana Bandit in .22 under 500 fps with similar results. I think the .177 would be right at the threshold for energy - so shot placement will be the key.
 
bobtodrick said:
Bull feathers...if there is any wind at all, even a couple of km/hr a sub 500fps pellet gun isn't going to guarantee a head shot, which you would need guarantee a clean kill.
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The power of an average .177 pellet at 500 feet per second equates to about 5.5 foot pound which is slightly under half the legal limit in the UK. Admittedly, that is low, but at a range of 20 yard (or 20 feet in this example) you can kill small game with a well placed shot. Check out the UK airgun forums for examples. With regard to wind, in the woods where you usually shoot a squirrel, 20 yards is not going to factor massively in the shot placement.

This is similar to asking if you can down a deer with a 9mm at 40 yards. Yes, but far from your preferred method. But entirely doable. Cleanly, unlikely, but still possible.

Candocad.
 
I killed squirrels with my crosman 760 when I was a kid at more than 20 feet. I used pointed pellets and shot them in the chest/ribs area, none of them ran away. I think it's silly some of you think it can't (or shouldn't) be attempted at a distance of 6-ish yards or less as the OP has indicated.
 
I have killed numerous squirrels when I was a kid with BB and pellet guns including pellet revolvers. Black, gray and red big and small. never had a problem.
 
After I told my wife what I intended to do, she hurredly called a local sister and, lo and behold, the sister had a Haveaheart animal trap that she had supposedly used to trap and release some troublesome squirrels.

I say supposedly because fter examining the trap, I found that it would take an animal much heavier than a squirrel on the food tray to trip the trip-mechanism of the trap. I adjusted the trip lever as much as I could so that a squirrel just might spring the trap door, but I'm really not that hopeful.

But if the hungry little devil goes into the trap and comes out the door fat and sassy, I'll copy what this resourceful person did with a common mouse trap (I have three of them at hand) to "sensitize" the trip mechanism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzDxEdOd8lI

After capturing the little pest, we'll transport it across the N. Saskatchewan River, go anther 5 or 6 miles and release it in a wooded area near the road. If the little devil somehow makes its way back onto our deck, as practically all US presidents have threatened on a weekly basis, all options are on the table.
 
OP said 20ft ...not yds

500fps 177 pellet gun will absolutely kill humanely at 20ft...IF you can put the pellet either head or vitals....lower body or ass shots won't.

20ft is the very outside range tho....any further and its losing energy/trajectory fast
 
Totally agree my Pellet gun will easily shoot through cans and even 1 litre oil containers at 25ft no problem

terez said:
OP said 20ft ...not yds

500fps 177 pellet gun will absolutely kill humanely at 20ft...IF you can put the pellet either head or vitals....lower body or ass shots won't.

20ft is the very outside range tho....any further and its losing energy/trajectory fast
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Iloverevolvers said:
After I told my wife what I intended to do, she hurredly called a local sister and, lo and behold, the sister had a Haveaheart animal trap that she had supposedly used to trap and release some troublesome squirrels.

I say supposedly because fter examining the trap, I found that it would take an animal much heavier than a squirrel on the food tray to trip the trip-mechanism of the trap. I adjusted the trip lever as much as I could so that a squirrel just might spring the trap door, but I'm really not that hopeful.

But if the hungry little devil goes into the trap and comes out the door fat and sassy, I'll copy what this resourceful person did with a common mouse trap (I have three of them at hand) to "sensitize" the trip mechanism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzDxEdOd8lI

After capturing the little pest, we'll transport it across the N. Saskatchewan River, go anther 5 or 6 miles and release it in a wooded area near the road. If the little devil somehow makes its way back onto our deck, as practically all US presidents have threatened on a weekly basis, all options are on the table.
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I do not agree with making pests someone else's problem.......unless there was a way to specifically endow them on Liberals.
 
I did once with my cousin's pellet gun when I was 9. It ran to the end of a branch it was on and dropped off dead. Perfect behind the should heart/lung shot. Taught me a life long lesson.
 
cdill said:
I do not agree with making pests someone else's problem.......unless there was a way to specifically endow them on Liberals.
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I would have preferred to off the pest, but releasing in a very rural area of large farms will be the most responsible and humane outcome for the animal, IMO. After all, one person's pest may be another person's great pet. But I do see your point. If the little animal bothers a farmer, it won't be alive for long.
 
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